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University Responses to Campus Protests: A Tale of Two approaches
Recent events on university campuses have highlighted a stark contrast in how institutions are handling protests, especially those related to the israeli-Palestinian conflict. While some universities have opted for negotiation and internal policy adjustments, others have faced federal pressure, leading to significant consequences.
One notable case involves the University of Pennsylvania, which suspended its campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, an organization involved in organizing protests. This action set Penn apart from its peer institutions. Prior to reaching an agreement, Penn had already bolstered its support for Jewish student programs, enhanced security measures for Jewish centers, and appointed a new vice provost specifically tasked with improving campus climate and addressing antisemitism.
According to an observer,Penn has also implemented measures to foster a more inclusive campus environment while upholding free speech principles. These initiatives include adopting the Chatham House Rule for classroom discussions, preventing the attribution of specific statements to individuals, launching a program that encourages students to engage in debates with those holding opposing views, and incorporating a question into their request process that assesses how applicants interact with individuals they disagree with.
Similarly, Brown University reached an agreement with Gaza protesters in 2024 that garnered widespread praise for its effectiveness in promoting campus dialog, a stark contrast to the strategies employed by some of its counterparts.
However,instead of evaluating the allegations against these universities and their implemented measures through a formal process,the management opted for a more direct approach. By temporarily withholding federal funding, the administration aimed to compel these institutions to the negotiating table and seek choice resolutions to ongoing legal cases. The substantial federal funding at stake, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, has effectively placed universities in a challenging position.
Institutions with substantial financial reserves,such as Columbia University with its $14.8 billion endowment (and Harvard University, boasting an endowment exceeding $53 billion), had the capacity to withstand such pressure.Yet, their decisions may have broader implications for the entire higher education sector.
One perspective suggests that Columbia’s concession and Harvard’s behind-the-scenes negotiations send a concerning message to universities nationwide: that yielding to political pressure can lead to a temporary reprieve. This approach, it is argued, rewards certain behaviors, leading to their repetition. This is characterized not as civil rights enforcement, but as political coercion operating under the guise of legal authority.
